German Government Recommends Google Chrome for Windows 7 Users

The German Government is relying on Google Chrome for the safety of its users online. It has recommended all Windows 7 users to move to Google Chrome, which offers a better sandbox protection and automatic update features. This recommendation has been put up as part of a security best practices guideline.The Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security declared Chrome to be the best browser, from a security perspective. Google Chrome is indeed secure, and we have seen it claim wins in multiple Pwn2Own contests. It has remained unbeaten for a long time, and this is owing to the extremely secure sandbox.

In computer security, a sandbox is a security mechanism for separating running programs. The sandbox typically provides a tightly controlled set of resources for guest programs to run in, such as scratch space on disk and memory.

Your internet browser is the key component for the use of services on the Web and thus represents the main target for cyber-attacks. By using Google Chrome in conjunction with the other measures outlined above, you can significantly reduce the risk of a successful IT attack.

Overall, this is an excellent move by the German Government to make its users secure. Germany sees a market dominated by Firefox at 51% and IE at 24%, and there are only 14.3% Google Chrome users, currently. However, this recommendation has some practical issues. Google Chrome has had issues with the Flash Player, its rapid release cycle poses problems for developers and most importantly, it puts too much of data in the hands of Google. This can raise serious privacy concerns.